


Adventures in Dog Sitting

by Cliophilyra



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Based on a Tumblr Post, Delivery person Gabriel, Embarrassment, House Sitting, Humor, M/M, Public Nudity, dog sitting, hopefully! - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-02
Updated: 2016-02-02
Packaged: 2018-05-17 20:17:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5884105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cliophilyra/pseuds/Cliophilyra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>House and Dog sitting for Dean and Cas turns out to be a lot worse - and better - than Sam ever expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Adventures in Dog Sitting

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on a post from Today I Fucked Up on Tumblr that I read a long time ago and instantly visualised Sam and Gabe. 
> 
> It is also a pressie for my lovely friend Stacey who has been ill - feel better soon chick! Hope you like this :-) xx

Sam smiles, tilting his head back to feel the sun on his face. He screws up his eyes against the glare and takes a deep breath, letting himself be dragged along by an energetic Labrador puppy. He opens his eyes again after a second, not quite sure-footed enough to walk along a dirt path with his eyes closed.

The puppy, who rejoices in the name Loki, belongs to his brother-in-law Cas. Looking after him is a perk of house-sitting while Cas and his husband - Sam’s brother Dean - are out of town. Sam desperately wants a dog but in the cramped city apartment he lives in now he thinks it just wouldn’t be fair. 

It’s a truly beautiful day. The sun is shining, filtering down through the leaves to dapple his skin, the green grass and the dry earth with gently shifting light. Butterflies flit between the stalks of long grasses at the sides of the path like petals blown in the gentle breeze. The air is warm without being sticky and he feels his shoulders begin to relax as the tension of the city evaporates into the blue sky. Amazing that he could be so close to home and feel so entirely in the countryside. Loki is keen to explore, straining at the leash and threatening to pull Sam’s arm out of the socket despite his small size. Sam leans down to adjust the leash, unhooking it from the puppy’s collar while he holds on to him. Before he’s even registered it, Loki has twisted out of his grasp and is bounding on ahead.

Shit. Sam calls for the dog and runs to catch up, cursing as Loki immediately darts away from the path and into the woods. He rounds a corner and is confronted by the forest stretching out into the distance. Nothing but trees and bird song - no Labradors as far as the eye can see.

"Loki!" he calls, trying not to be concerned. There's no answering bark and he feels his heart sink. Shit! He calls again, stopping to listen for any sound of puppy feet crashing through the underbrush. Hearing nothing, he takes off with a sigh, running in the last direction he'd seen the dog go. 

Fifteen minutes later Sam stops. His throat is hoarse and he’s sweating like a bitch from scrambling through the forest. His heart is thumping in his chest as he leans against a tree, bracing his hands on his knees and letting out a heartfelt sigh. His hair clings to his forehead and his shirt is damp. Cas and Dean are going to fucking kill him; well Cas certainly is anyway. He stares around and is about to let loose one last exhausted yell of the dog’s name when there’s a rustling in the grasses beside his feet and a familiar small yellow puppy trots out and yaps, apparently pleased to see him again.

"Thank fuck." All the air rushes out of Sam's lungs in a heartfelt gasp of relief and he bends down to clip the leash back on before Loki has any secondary escape plans. “You are a massive pain in the ass.” he informs the puppy who is jumping up at him excitedly. They start back up the path toward the house. Sam is hot and uncomfortable and about as tense as he had been before he got here.

***

Back on his brother's street Loki walks alongside him, the picture of obedience. There aren't a lot of houses in the neighbourhood. Dean and Cas's house is kind of out of the way. They have a neighbour on each side but that's it. The rest is green fields under a big sky. It's the complete opposite of Sam's small apartment in Manhattan. He is an attorney, which he always imagined would mean huge loft apartments and not still having to share with two friends from college even at the age of 27 but then, due to an attack of conscience, he became a public defender. 

As he approaches the ranch-style house with the huge garden that Dean and Cas call home he is hit with a wave of envy that takes him by surprise. It’s only when he stops to think that he realises that it’s not the house he’s jealous of, it’s what it represents; home, family, someone to come home to. The hours he works don't leave him much time to meet people and the cost of living in the city means he doesn't have much spare income to go out even when he can.

Sudden mad barking from Loki startles him from his green-eyed reverie and he looks up sharply. They're passing the drive way of Dean and Cas's neighbour and another dog is hurtling towards them: a small white terrier of some kind with short legs and a unexpectedly loud bark. It's long hair is flying out as it runs, giving it the look of a small, self-propelled rug. He would laugh if he wasn't using all his attention to restrain Loki who is straining at the very extremity of the leash. He yells at him to heel with little effect; the small dog is suddenly level with them and suddenly both animals are a blur of teeth and fur and growling.

"Loki!" he yells, yanking on the leash. Shit! again!

"Get away from my Poppy!" 

The shrill voice cuts through the barking of the dogs and Sam looks up to see an elderly woman standing in the doorway of the house, shouting at the dogs. He feels his face heating up, embarrassed at his inability to bring Loki back under his control. Finally, just as he begins to think the old woman's expression of disapproval might just strike him dead, the two animals spring apart and stand, growling lowly at each other. 

Sam quickly grabs Loki, offering up a prayer that he doesn't get his hand bitten off. He holds the dog tightly to his chest as it whines. 

The woman is now hobbling down her driveway toward him, strangely old-fashioned blue housecoat flapping around her, waving a silver leash. She scoops up the small white dog and holds it to her, petting it behind the ears as it continues to snarl quietly. 

"Sshh Poppy, it's alright now. It's ok," she murmurs gently before she turns to pin Sam with an outraged glare. "Can't you control that mutt?!" she snaps. "Poppy is terrified. She could have died!"

Sam looks at her with raised eyebrows, thinking of the angry flying carpet hurling itself at them in a fury of fangs and drool. He's about to open his mouth to retort but he thinks better of it. He imagines how he looks, a massive strange man with sweat soaked clothes and dishevelled long hair. This is his brother and Cas's neighbour after all. Better not piss her off on his first day here. 

"I'm sorry ma'am," he says politely, but she has already turned around and hurried back into her house.

Sam stares after her then shrugs and turns to carry Loki back home.

*** 

When they get back inside, Sam lets Loki off the leash to zoom around the house doing whatever it is small puppies do when their minders are too exhausted to care and stumbles up the stairs towards the bathroom. His shirt is sticking to him unpleasantly and he feels disgusting. 

Once he's in the shower he takes a deep breath and lets the hot water drum into his shoulders, trying to regain something of the relaxation and calm he'd felt in the woods. The water pressure is excellent, infinitely better than what he pays a fortune for in his building. The benefits of not having to share your plumbing system with fifty other people who all want to shower at the same time. He lets his head drop forward and enjoys the feeling of the water streaming over his sticky skin, washing away the stress and heat of the day so far. 

He doesn't hear the doorbell ringing over the white noise of the shower. It's only when Loki starts barking like a hellhound that he notices something's going on. Sam starts and almost slips as he reaches to turn off the water and jump out of the shower. He grabs a towel and wraps it around his waist, holding it closed as he hurries to the top of the stairs. The puppy is sitting by the door, making more noise than Sam currently wants to deal with. He looks down from the nearest window to the front porch. Standing by the door, drumming his fingers on the porch frame, is a man with dark blond hair wearing a grey uniform and holding a package. Delivery guy.

Shit! Sam suddenly remembers Cas saying something about expecting a delivery. 

As he watches, the delivery guy shrugs and turn away from the door. Sam panics and runs down the stairs, gripping the towel more securely as he lunges for the front door. "Wait!" he calls out as he puts the security chain on and opens the door a crack.

The delivery man turns around, startled and blinks in surprise. Sam finds he has forgotten what he had meant to say because he's suddenly entirely focussed on the warm golden eyes of the most attractive person he's met in a long time. 

Loki is still going mental behind him and Sam reluctantly drags his gaze away from the man. "Hang on," he says, holding up a finger and turning back to the dog. "Sit," he says firmly, pointing at the floor. Loki whines slightly but sits dutifully, tail swishing expectantly. Sam smiles, triumphant in his puppy training progress. "Good boy," he says.

He takes the chain off and opens the door wider, only remembering when the delivery man raises an eyebrow and flashes him a positively lascivious grin, that he's naked from the waist up.

There is silence for a beat. "Castiel Winchester?" the man asks finally.

Sam swallows and shakes his head. "Yes...I mean no. I...I'm not him. I'm Sam...But this is his house. I can sign for him...he's away. I'm his brother in law," he finishes. Smooth Sam, way to go, he thinks with an internal eye roll.

"Well ok then Sam," the man smiles crookedly. The badge on his shirt says Gabriel Milton. He hands the package to Sam, who tucks it under his arm as Gabriel also passes him his electronic signing device. With the parcel under one arm and towel tucked in at his hip, Sam juggles the electronic pad and tiny pen. He feels Gabriel's admiring gaze sweeping over his body and he shivers, suppressing a smile as he feels pricks of heat creeping over his steaming skin. He licks his lips slowly, purposefully and smiles when he thinks he hears a tiny whimper from the other man.

Just as he's beginning to enjoy the impromptu flirting Sam hears a horribly familiar loud bark and looks up to see the little white dog from next-door streaking across the front yard yapping like a mad thing. 

Several things happen in awful slow motion. 

He hears Loki's answering bark behind him and he shouts for him to stay.

Loki ignores him, all training flying out of the window as he tries to dash out of the door.

Poppy's owner rounds the corner, silver leash in hand and disapproving expression in place.

Sam attempts to position himself in Loki's path, Loki drops his head and dodges between Sam's legs.

Sam's hands are full and so, when Loki rushes through and catches his towel, dragging it off down the garden with him, there is nothing he can do.

Sam feels the cool air hit his junk before he really understands what has happened. His eyes widen as he looks down at himself stupidly. He's still holding the electronic clipboard in one hand and he watches as the towel is pulled through the dirt by a small yellow dog.

It's the laughter of the delivery guy that brings him back to himself. Gabriel is staring at him with wide bright eyes and laughing his head off; actual full on, holding his sides, struggling for breath hysterics. 

Just when it seemed unlikely that it could get worse, a scream pierces the sound of blood rushing in Sam's ears and he looks up to see Poppy's owner staring at him, or rather, at a particular part of him, in utter, scandalised horror.

Sam can't draw breath and he thinks he may be about to spontaneously combust. He also thinks he would welcome it. His face feels like it's glowing and all rational thought has left him. He falls back against the door, holding the much too small electronic device in front of his crotch with the much larger parcel still under his arm. 

"Loki!" he yells furiously. "Get back here you fucker!” 

There’s no sign of the puppy so Sam opens the door and backs inside, slamming it behind him and wondering if there any possibility of the ground opening and putting him out of his misery.

Seconds or possibly days later his brain reboots and he finds himself still leaning against the closed door, breath panting, heart pounding, blushing the colour of broiled lobster. What the fuck? Did that just happen? How did that just happen? Someone up there must seriously hate him.

When he has gathered his faculties as much as he can for now he grabs the dogs leash, puts the chain back on and opens the door a crack. The delivery guy is still there, leaning against the wall with one hand on his knee, shaking with suppressed laughter, tears streaming down his face. Sam hates him. However he also has one hand firmly attached to Loki's collar so Sam may also love him a bit.

Sam pushes the electronic device and the leash strap through the gap in the door. "Here," he says quietly.

Gabriel looks over and starts laughing all over again and it's almost a full minute before he finally gets some sort of hiccupping control of himself and wipes away the tears again.

"Oh man that was the funniest thing I have ever seen in my life. I mean seriously - and I've seen some fucking hilarious shit in my time. Your face! The old lady! Holy freakin’ Christ!" 

He wheezes with laughter again as he takes the device back from Sam and fixes the strap to the puppy's collar and hands him that instead. Sam looks at the leather strap in his hand. 

"Dude I can't bring him in without opening the door," he says.

Gabriel laughs again. "Shit sorry man," he takes the lead back, "Don't worry on my account though, after all, it's nothing I haven't seen before." he cracks up again, waggling his eyebrows.

Sam sighs. "Just wait there for a minute."

He closes the door and goes in search of pants. He throws on the first pair of jeans he sees and grabs a t-shirt, pulling it over his head as he opens the door again properly. 

Gabriel looks up and pouts. "Well you're still gorgeous but I definitely prefer the first outfit."

Sam doesn't blush because it's not physically possible for him to blush more than he already is. His entire body still feels like it's on fire. Instead he scowls and raises an eyebrow. "Really dude?"

"Well I'll admit this is forward even for me but you're the one who got naked within 10 seconds of meeting me," he grins and holds out a hand. "Not that I blame you. I'm Gabe by the way." 

Sam takes his hand and finds himself smiling despite himself. "Sam." he says, "Wish I could say it's been nice meeting you."

"Well we could try again?" Gabe suggests with a wink.

Sam's about to decline, almost out of habit, but then he thinks _'what the hell.'_ Gabe is gorgeous, funny and kind of sweet and anyway, after this fiasco what else could possibly go wrong? Nothing wrong with a holiday fling anyway. He nods. "Ok."

Gabriel looks stunned for a moment, then his face lights up. "Wow I've clearly got more game than I thought," he takes a notepad from his pocket, scribbles a phone number on it and passes it to Sam. "Here you go, Gigantor. Gimme a call sometime." 

Sam frowns at the nickname but takes the paper and puts it in his pocket. "I'm only here for a week though, then I'm going back to the city. I'm house sitting for my brother and his husband."

Gabriel raises an eyebrow. "The city as in New York city?" he asks.

Sam nods sadly but Gabriel is grinning in amazement. "Well whadda y'know. Home sweet home," he says. "Me too."

Sam blinks in surprise, grabs Gabe’s pen and writes his number on the back of Gabriel's hand. "In that case. Hell yes. Call me."

Gabriel looks down at his hand. "I'll never wash it again," he says. He looks up into Sam's eyes and Sam suddenly feels a lot better about his day. They smile at each other and Gabe looks around. "So I’ve kinda got to get back to work. If I leave now are you gonna behave? No more exposing yourself to old ladies and dogs. Ok?"

"Get outta here short stuff," Sam grouses, turning back to the door to hide his stupid grin.

"Ok kiddo, catch you later," Gabriel laughs and heads back to his truck with a wave.

***

Once indoors Sam finds himself grinning like an idiot, which he really shouldn’t be doing after the single most mortifying experience of his life so far. Including the numerous times he’s accidentally walked in on his brother and Cas over the years. He lets Loki off the leash again and crashes onto the couch while his heartbeat and skin colour gradually return to their usual levels.

He looks over and notices the parcel lying on the floor where he threw it in his panic. Shit, he hopes it’s not too damaged. He reaches out and drags it toward him, squeezing it gently. It doesn’t feel broken, it’s quite soft but he guesses he’d better open it anyway just to check. He can tell Cas the delivery company did it. He pushes his fingers through the plastic wrapping and tears into it. When he gets it open he laughs until he’s coughing and wiping his eyes. He drops the package of new bath towels on the floor and grins into his hands.


End file.
